That First Bullet
by Jasper winked
Summary: The sound was lethal. It felt like it froze time; everything slowed down except for the bullet. I could see a glimmer of the future: the blond man falling to the pavement, cold, and dead. I could see the the murderer running off. DISCONTINUED
1. Did I Really Tackle the President?

**A/N: It's an All Human story but please read it anyway even though there aren't any vamps. My brain has been bugging me to write this so I typed it out.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight. Is. Not. Mine. Period.**

_The street I was walking across was unusually bathed in shadows; I shrugged. Art class had let out a bit later than normal today._

_I let out a "Whoa!" as someone pushed past me, shoving me to the side, and rushed to the opposite street. I didn't realize how unusual it was for them not to say excuse me—the people in this neighborhood were polite—and how he (or maybe she, I couldn't tell) was clothed in all black, something that no person in Phoenix, Arizona for summer vacation would be. _

_I shrugged again and brushed it off. Then the site ahead of me made me blink though._

_A blond man, around his late 30s, early 40s, had stepped out of a black car—maybe some sort of sedan, I couldn't tell; I was never one to go gaga over cars. The man was handsome and had on a business suit, as if he was late to an important meeting. _

_But across the street was a person dressed in black—the same person that had pushed me to the side. And in his hand, was a gun._

_It was pointed straight towards the blond man._

_Adrenaline was pumping through my breath, I gasped. That man was going to… going to die? _

_The adrenaline made me realize several things at once. First, the gun was pointed towards the blond man's chest; it would be fatal shot straight to the heart as soon as the gun could go off. Second, the blond man had no clue that he was about to be killed; he was looking the other way. Third was the sound of the gun going off._

_The sound was cold, deadly. It felt like it froze time, everything slowed down except for that bullet. I could see a glimmer of the future: the blond man falling to the pavement, cold, and dead. I could see the person in black running off. I could faintly hear my own scream. Why hadn't I done anything? _

_So I acted._

_I took a running jump and tackled the blond man, a second too late. The bullet grazed my arm and I could feel a burning pain that overshadowed everything. _

_I faintly remembered the person in black running off, shouting something I couldn't understand. Then I saw the blond man's face. He looked horrified and concerned at the same time._

_Everything faded. _

I moaned, my eyes fluttering open. Renee, Charlie, and Phil crowded into my eyesight.

"Honey, you're awake!" Renee exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "I thought you weren't going to wake up!"

"Huh—what?" I groaned, utterly confused from the weird dream I had just had.

"You don't remember a thing, do you?" she replied, looking concerned.

"Did I fall down again—oh." I interrupted myself.

"That man—he had a gun—an-and that other man," I stuttered in a panic thinking, _my dream was real?_

"It's okay now," Charlie soothed me. "It's all taken care of."

_Beep… Beep… Beep…_

The sound reminded me of my alarm clock and I asked faintly, "Will someone turn off my alarm clock?"

Renee, Phil, and Charlie exchanged those 'should we tell her?' looks and it worried me so I glanced around and noticed the white curtains and antiseptic smell of a hospital.

"I'm in a hospital, aren't I?"

"That you are," someone said, opening the door I hadn't noticed and walking in. He was tall and dressed in a blue pinstriped business suit. As he turned to face me I recognized his blond hair and handsome face.

"You're that man?" I asked again, not using a name since I didn't know one. (And I just couldn't call him Mr. Man, could I?)

As I looked around I noticed my parents' expressions. Renee was wiping imaginary dirt from her clothes and Charlie was fidgeting. They both looked uncomfortable.

And when I glanced back at the man, I _really _looked at him. There was something about him; I recognized him. It was the kind, open features of his face and his blue eyes that actually clued me in.

I groaned again. "Please tell me you're not Carlisle Cullen."

He chuckled, "I can lie if you want."

"Did I really tackle the President of the United States?"

"You actually saved me from being assassinated," he replied, suddenly serious.

I didn't no how to reply to that. I mean, what was I supposed to say? That I, Bella Swan, brown hair, brown eyes, 5'4", saved _the _president?

"Honey…" started Renee and I knew that it was bad news especially when Mr. President muttered, "I'll leave you to tell her," and left.

"Just get it out, Mom!" I was suddenly angry. Did they really think that I was so weak that I couldn't deal with anything?

"You're…" her voice trailed off and she started again. "You're going to live in the White House."

Silence.

"_Why?" _ That was all I need to say; it was filled with too many emotions. I didn't know if I should explode in anger or wrinkle my forehead in confusion.

"Mr. Cullen says the people trying to assassinate him might try to kill you… Since you messed up their plan," Renee rushed out.

"So I'm getting carted off to White House like an Endangered animal?!" This time I didn't need to think about what emotion I was feeing; it was pure anger.

"Bella!" Renee admonished. "It's for your own good, you'll be safe."

"There's this organization… hmm," I sarcastically pretended to contemplate the name of it. "I think it's called the Witness Protection Program… yeah, that's the name! Ever heard of it?"

Surprisingly it was Charlie that made me lose my anger. "Please, Bells," he pleaded, using my childhood nickname. "These people are dangerous. I don't want to see my baby girl killed."

_Beep… Beep… Beep… _went the heart monitor.

"Fine," I sighed.

Satisfied that I was safe, Renee smothered me in kisses. I allowed her to, knowing that she had been worried.

"I'll have to get you new clothes…" she babbled on.

"Mom," I drew her attention. "If your sending me to purgatory the least you could do was let me pick out which clothes I wore there."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call my house 'purgatory', but that's your opinion," Carlisle Cullen entered the hospital room again chuckling.

I blushed.

***

Several hours later I was standing outside of the most fancy house in the whole U.S. But there was only word I was thinking and it wasn't 'cool.' It was 'intimidating.'

"I won't die here, I won't die here, I won't die here," I chanted under my breath as we entered the White House and went under some security measures.

"Now, let me introduce you to my family." Mr. Cullen steered me away from the security guards.

One of the guards swept past us—to check on something, I supposed—and as he passed me he muttered into my ear, "You won't die here, don't worry. Then we'll be out of job."

Whoever that guard was—I thanked him silently as my nerves were dissolved into a fit of laughter. Mr. Cullen smiled knowingly and led me through a series of hallways and into a crème room.

6 people were seated in the middle of the room. I took in their features first. Mr. Cullen's wife was seated on the edge of couch—she looked barely over 35 and her caramel hair and pale skin made her look beautiful.

Out of the boys, the first was muscled, like a weightlifter. He had dark curly hair and hazel eyes. The second was lean and lanky, honey-blond hair shrouded his face and ice blue eyes took me in calmly. The last was probably the most beautiful. He had tousled bronze hair and green eyes—like jade, or, I decided, emeralds. His jaw was strong and he was glancing at me curiously.

There were only two girls, but they were both absolutely beautiful. The first had blond hair that gently waved down her back and the same ice blue eyes as the blond boy. Her figure was the kind of one that was front page on Vogue every month. The second girl was petite, with a pixie-like frame and black hair that spiked up in every direction. Somehow it suited her and her eyes—which were a lighter green than the bronze-haired boy's, sort of a light jade color. She was just as beautiful as the blond haired girl.

Mr. Cullen decided to introduce me. "Everyone, this is Isabella Swan."

Bella—this is my family: Esme, my wife; Emmett, Jasper, and Edward, my sons; and Rosalie and Alice, my daughters."

In some corner of my brain I stored away the information that the bronze-haired boy was named Edward.

The blond haired girl—Rosalie—spoke up. "So this is the girl you were talking about?"

There was so much contempt in her voice and she shot me a look of distain. That was what did it.

I had just moved across the country after being told that I was on a hit list and she talked to me like _that_? My kindness snapped.

"If it helps you sleep any better at night I got a bullet in my arm for my actions," I snarled and instantly regretted my rudeness.

Everyone looked shocked and I took the moment to say, "Mrs. Cullen, I'm tired," here I faked a yawn which I'm sure they could tell was fake due to my poor acting skills, "Would you mind if I went to a guest room or something now? I'm not sure if I'll be joining you for dinner, jetlag and all."

"Call me Esme," she insisted first. I wanted to but the sensible part of my brain reminded me, _don't get attached. You're here until you're not #1 on a hit list. _

"And your room is already made," Esme continued.

"Thanks, Mrs. Cullen," I replied, and started retreating from the room.

"How are you supposed to find your room?" Carlisle—as he wanted me to call him—called after me.

"I will," I stubbornly replied. "And if I have trouble I'm sure I can always ask all of the men in the black suits with the James Bond glasses that are always following me. I'm sure they know some answers."

Before I walked away I heard a roomful of laughter.

**A/N: So my friend was reading some book by Meg Cabot that was about a girl who saved the president. That's where I got my idea. But I haven't read the book, so it's not going to be exactly like it, I just got the idea from it. **

**Now, opinions? Be harsh, I need to know if it should be continued. **

**Review please! ;) **


	2. The American Pastime & I Don't Mix Well

**A/N: Here you go! Read on!**

**Disclaimer—the infamous poem: Roses are red, Violets are blue, I don't own Twilight, so please don't sue. (And to be safe, I don't own this poem either.)**

_Chapter Two—BPOV_

Eventually, after wandering around for a while, I found my room. It was the room that had cursive gold lettering on the door that spelled Bella—as if I could doubt that it was my room after I saw that.

When I opened the door I had only one thought: _Well, here they certainly aren't worrying about money._

The walls were painted white but midnight blue ran around the borders. The bed was leaning against one wall, in the center. It had a beautiful cast iron frame and midnight blue blanket dotted with golden stars was covering it. Gold pillows were lying on the bed. A night table was right next to it, holding an expensive-looking lamp and iPod speakers. Wood drawers and bookshelves scattered themselves throughout the room on a soft, white carpet.

I sighed, wondering how much money had been spent to decorate this room.

Unpacking took me thirty minutes—a relatively short time. Soon enough I was left to my own thoughts. I missed Renee and Charlie; I even missed Phil.

To distract myself I plugged in earphones and blasted some of the rock that Phil had gotten me for Christmas. I would have to thank him later—it helped blocking my thoughts. That is, if I saw him again.

_Silly Bella, of course you'll see him again, _I reassured myself. I slipped under the covers and soon enough I was asleep due to the jetlag.

***

_I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas, Please -_

_Fold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)_

_Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start_

_And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart_

Poker Face blared from my alarm clock at the loudest it could. I groaned and reached blindly to shut it off. Seriously, Poker Face? Nightclub maybe, but not for waking up. **A/N: Ha, this actually happened to me. Not the best way to wake up, huh?**

Stumbling out of bed I realized that I had fallen asleep in my traveling clothes, meaning that I had missed dinner and had slept probably a good sixteen hours or more.

I slipped into holey sweats and pulled my hair into a ponytail since it was too messy to deal with it and checked the clock. It was 7:30 AM.

Rubbing sleep from my eyes I opened the door and took a hallway that I thought led to the kitchen. Or to the living room, where I could get someone to direct me to the kitchen. Either way I needed to eat, which my stomach proved by rumbling at that exact moment.

Walking silently down the hall I spotted that familiar security guard. As I took in appearance I noticed that he was surprisingly slight for a guard but he had that air around him—you know, the one that say don't-mess-with-me-you'll-regret-it—and he was beautiful.

_Is it the water here or something? _I thought. _All the people here are striking._

"Excuse me, sir?" I asked, gathering my courage.

"Yes?" he replied. But surprisingly it wasn't mean or disdainful.

"Do you know where the kitchen is?" I asked again.

"Go down those stairs and turn left, keep going down until you reach the first door you see," he directed.

"Thank you…" I trailed off, implying that I didn't know his name.

"It's Alec," he smiled. "My sister Jane works here; you might see her around."

"I'll keep a lookout," I said. "By the way, I never got to thank you for making me laugh yesterday, I was about to go to crazy from nerves there."

"No problem..." Now he trailed off.

"Bella," I told him.

"Well, Bella, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," he called as I walked towards the kitchen.

"Me too, Alec!"

He chuckled.

Finding the kitchen was easy but once I got there I felt out of place. Cooks bustled around in black and white uniforms and all the Cullens, including Carlisle and Esme, were in the opposite doorway, talking earnestly. They were dressed in casual but expensive clothes that hinted subtly at designer labels and when I looked down at my comfy sweats I felt out of place.

Noticing me, Carlisle motioned me over to them. Grimacing, I walked over.

"Hello, Bella," he greeted me.

"Hello, dear," Esme smiled warmly, also greeting me.

I flinched away and saw all the Cullens exchange glances. But, did they seriously not get it? I didn't want to be here—I wanted to be with Renee, Phil, and Charlie. I wanted to have a normal summer, not get mixed up in CIA business. I didn't want anyone calling me "dear", I want to get out of here, so my real mom could call me that.

"Hey, Bella!" exclaimed Alice, bouncing forward to give me a hug. "Do you want to have breakfast with us?" She motioned to Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward.

"Uh, I'm going to have to refuse," I said, trying to be polite. Alice seemed like a generously nice person, as did Jasper, Emmett, and Edward. Rosalie… let's leave that unsaid. I didn't want to upset them but I didn't—and wasn't—going to open to them.

"Okay," she replied, seemingly dejected. "But you'll join us for lunch, right?"

"Sure," I sighed in return and she immediately brightened up.

"See you at noon in the dining room?" Alice asked again, confirming our plans for lunch.

"If I can find the dining room," I mumbled under my breath.

A velvety chuckle interrupted my mental complaining, making me freeze at the sound. It was so… musical.

"The dinning room's just down the hall," Edward directed, smiling. I gasped at the sight of his smile: it was crooked; though even crooked it was beautiful. I instantly made a promise to myself to get him to smile often.

_Wait, Bella, don't get attached_, I reminded myself but couldn't stop from glancing at him again.

His green eyes were lit up playfully and his bronze hair tousled. I wanted to run my fingers through it; feel if it was really as soft as if looked.

_Bella, stop it! _I ordered myself. _He's just being polite to you. And you're going to go back home soon and they're going to forget all about you. It's no use getting attached to put yourself through that sadness when you leave. _

Shaking myself out a daze, I muttered, "Thanks," and ran off yelling bye to Carlisle and Esme, not looking back. I didn't see the curious and frustrated glances they all exchanged.

When I got to my room I remembered the breakfast I was supposed to get and my stomach rumbled hungrily.

_This day is just going to be great, _I thought sarcastically. _I can already tell._

***

Plugging in my iPod I chose a song that fit my mood. Soon enough I was just setting it on shuffle and singing along.

Out of curiosity, I glanced at the clock. It was 12:09.

"Dang!" I muttered. Wasn't I supposed to meet the Cullens at 12:00?

I hopped off the bed, stubbing my toe in the process.

"Ouch," I mumbled again, putting my iPod away and slipping my cell phone into the back pocket of my jeans. To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure if I was allowed to bring my phone but no one had said anything about it.

Flying out the door at the fasted speed I could, I rushed down the to dining room, following Edward's instructions.

I skidded into the dining room. I was sure my hair was all over the place—not that I cared about my hair—and my clothes were rumpled so I blushed. Again. Jeez, shouldn't there be a law about how many times a person can blush?

Shaking away my stray thoughts I mumbled, "Hi."

They were all seated around a rather small, circular, wooden table. I noticed one empty seat and slowly made my way over to it.

"Hi," Alice said cheerfully. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"My bad," I muttered.

Emmett—who was sitting on my left side, chuckled.

"I like you, Bella!" he announced.

"I don't know what I would do if you didn't," I retorted sarcastically.

And the person on my right chuckled too. I could tell it was Edward without even having to look up.

There was a somewhat awkward silence and surprisingly Rosalie broke it first.

"So, Bella, tell us about yourself," she requested.

I gaped at her. Was this the same Rosalie that I was pretty sure hated me a day ago?

"Who are you and what have you done with the Rosalie I know?" I asked, pretty sure my voice was just as shocked as my expression.

Of course, then I realized what I had said.

"No offense," I quickly added on before she could talk.

"It's fine," she smiled. "I like that you have confidence."

"Are we talking about the same person?" I asked her again. "If you looked up shy in the dictionary I swear there would be a picture of me right next to the definition."

She shrugged it off, and prompted me with a, "So…"

"Okay—" I started but a sound cut me off.

It was the song Decode by Paramore and I quickly recognized it as my ring tone.

I slid my phone out of my back pocket and silently asked if I could take the phone call. They all nodded in consent.

The name that was flashing on the screen was Renesmee.

I grinned and flipped open my phone, squealing, "Renesmee!" in the process.

"Bella!" she squealed in the same tone of voice.

"So how's my Forks?" I asked, starting the really conversation.

"_Your _Forks?" asked Renesmee teasingly. "I'm ashamed! I thought it was _our _Forks!"

"That ended the day you and Jacob," I named another one of my best friends, "told Mike that I actually _wanted_ to go on a date with him."

"I couldn't bear to break his poor heart," she mock sobbed and I could hear chuckles in the background.

"Mike, shmike," I grumbled at her and asked in a louder tone, "And do you have me on speaker phone?"

"Alright, you caught me," admitted Renesmee, giggling. "Say hello to the gang, though."

"Hey, guys," I basically shouted into the phone.

"Hi, Bella," they all chorused back.

"Renesmee, is _everyone _there?" I grumbled again.

"What exactly do you mean by 'everyone'?" she asked slyly.

Sometimes I really wondered how she was my best friend.

"Hey, Seth, Quil, Embry, Paul, Sam, Embry, and Leah," I listed everyone but one, purposely avoiding his name.

"What about me?" Jacob whined.

I tried to muffle a laugh but wasn't successful.

"Are you laughing at me?" I could basically hear the pout in his voice.

"Hi, Jacob," I said at last.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, being overdramatic.

"I can totally see how you and Renesmee belong together," I remarked. "You're both idiots."

"Hey!" they both shouted at the same time.

I seriously couldn't help it: I burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay," Renesmee calmed me down. "So what's up with you?"

"Umm…" I trailed off. I mean, what _could _I say? That I saved the president from an assassination attempt and was now living in the White House because there was a chance that I was on a hit list?

"Bella," she warned.

I glanced over at the Cullens. They were glancing at me with shocked expressions. More than anything I was sure I wasn't supposed to reveal anything about my current predicament to anyone other than my parents or people who already knew.

And I was sure that I was already going to break that rule.

So I stood up and, giving the Cullens the universal 'wait one minute' signal, walked out of the room.

Glancing around the hallway, and satisfied that it was clear, I whispered urgently into the phone, "Turn off speaker phone."

"'Kay," muttered Renesmee worriedly.

"Now walk out of the room you're in," I commanded.

"Okay," she said again. "Bella, you're… you're not in danger, are you?" She faltered.

I didn't answer. "Call Renee and tell her that Bella wants her to know what happened. Ask her to tell the truth," I said.

"Bella…"

"I'm fine, Renesmee," I assured her. "I can't tell you anything here though. Just call my mom. You have her number?"

She told me she did and I hung up, my spirits somewhat lowered by the turn of events.

Walking back in, I was sure they could all tell my emotions by just looking at my emotions.

"Well," sighed Alice, not to be deterred by anything. "Who was that?"

I smiled. "I sometimes live with my father in Forks, Washington. Renesmee and Jacob are my best friends there along with the rest of the pack."

"Pack?" asked Emmett curiously.

"Don't ask," I laughed. "It's something we came up with."

Jasper was staring at me strangely. "You act so different with them then with us," he remarked.

"I act differently around people—" I cut myself off. _People I trust, _I finished silently.

"Around people…" trailed off Edward, inquiring.

"It doesn't matter, " I shook my head.

"Are you with Jacob?" asked Alice.

I couldn't help how Edward turned away from me at that. _Ookay… _

"Seriously?" I asked. "Renesmee and Jacob are dating. Couldn't you tell?"

"Makes sense," responded Alice but she as she turned away from me I noticed a knowing smile on her face.

"Is she always like this?" I asked all the others.

"Like what?" Alice asked.

I smirked at her. "Always planning others' futures without an explanation."

She smiled innocently at me. "What?"

"I saw that smile," I protested.

"What smile?" she asked again.

"The one that says 'I'm-in-charge-here-and-you-can't-stop-me'?"

"There's such a smile?"

"Alice," I growled.

Everyone else, I noticed, was suppressing laughs.

"You're so different when you're not closed up," remarked Rosalie.

Immediately, my face closed up and I was reprimanding myself in my head.

_Bella, don't get attached. You know they'll all forget about you when you leave—whenever that is._

I was shaken out of my thoughts by loud groans.

"When you finally open up we have to remind you to close up again," mumbled Rosalie.

"We?" joked Emmett. "That was all you, baby."

"Why do you do that anyway?" asked Jasper, studying me.

"What?" I played dumb.

"Close up," Edward clarified, staring intensely at me.

"I do no such thing!" I protested.

"You do," interrupted Alice. "Why?"

"Whatever," I mumbled, dismissing the conversation.

They all stared at me, trying to figure out why I closed up, I supposed. Meanwhile, the silence was awkward and I sat fidgeting.

As I glanced around, a smirk lit up Alice's face.

"Baseball," she announced.

"Umm," I interrupted nervously. "Am I going to watch you guys play or something?"

"No," Alice replied, the smirk growing even bigger at her next words. "You're going to play with us."

"No." I paled. "No."

I was clumsy and there was a huge list of the injuries I could gather from playing baseball. ER type of injuries to say the least.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Emmett bounded out of his chair, glancing around.

"Come on, Bella," Edward smiled. "It isn't that bad."

"You have no clue what you're talking about," I grumbled.

"It _is _the American pastime," Alice remarked from the doorway.

"How did I end up being born in a country that hits balls with sticks for a pastime?" I mumbled.

**A/N: So, sorry that the update was late. Now, onto more important matters.**

**The updates for my other stories will be out soon, but how soon, I'm not sure. **

**If you're worried about Alec and Jane, well Alec doesn't have a crush on Bella or anything, he's just a friend. But if some of you want to know if they're bad or good… ****(smirks) well, you'll just have to wait and see. **

**And now, please review! :D**


End file.
